Founded in 2016, the HLA scholarship recognises healthcare students and professionals with proven leadership ability and gives them the opportunity to take their leadership skills to the next level. It aims to inspire and support healthcare students and professionals to change the world of healthcare through leadership, one small step at a time.
Yusuf has a passion for widening access to the study of medicine, spurred on by his own upbringing in a low-income household. Alongside his studies, he has played an active role in widening participation as Access Ambassador at his college and department. In 2018, Yusuf founded The Aspiring Medics (TAM) a social enterprise helping students to get into medicine and dentistry through 1:1 tutoring and online courses. In the last 12 months, TAM have had over 100,000 website views and now over 2,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel. TAM has given over 200+ scholarships to state school students, to access medicine online work experience and interview courses for free, and they have worked with over 100+ charities and schools including Melanin Medics, BME Medics and In2Science. The Aspiring Medics has recently launched their free weekly interactive webinars for Year 12s and 13s applying for Medicine and Dentistry which has proved extremely popular.
Speaking about the opportunity, Yusuf Ben-Tarifite, said: “I am honoured to be offered such a prestigious opportunity like this. I’m thankful to all my mentors both within and outside of the medical school, and I am grateful to everyone who helped me to achieve this position. I'm excited to develop my own leadership and use those principles to scale The Aspiring Medics as a social enterprise to reach more schools and students”.
The HLA started with the flagship HLA Scholars programme based in London and since then it has rapidly spread across the UK, with cohorts in London, Newcastle, Bristol, Belfast, and Edinburgh, as well as Amsterdam.
It was formed in response to demand from young clinicians and medical students to learn about leadership. The aim of the programme is to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals and develop their understanding of leadership.
Speaking about this year’s cohort, Johann Malawana, Director of the HLA, said: “After a rigorous and competitive application process, we are delighted to welcome Yusuf Ben-Tarifite to our 2022-2023 HLA cohort. The pandemic has re-inforced the need for leaders who inspire, listen and care. At a time of great global challenge, it is important that the next generation of healthcare leaders are motivated, inspired, and prepared in order to best look after the populations they serve. We look forward to seeing what this generation of Scholars achieve with the platform they are given through the HLA and its community.”
As part of their role, Scholars are expected to develop a community project over the course of the one-year programme, with previous projects having reached national prominence, winning prizes, publications and presentations at national events including at the House of Lords.